The Girl from the Well (Paperback)

Staff Reviews

This chilling, beautiful ghost story, told by the ghost herself, will keep you up late racing to the finish—but don’t worry, you’ll be able to sleep when you’re done! Okiku is the worst nightmare of the guilty: she’s an onryuu, a ghost, who frees the spirits of murdered children by extracting horrible vengeance on their killers. But for the first time in three hundred years, she finds herself breaking from her habits when a tattooed boy with evil trapped in his skin and his kind, brave cousin draw her attention.

Okiku’s story is definitely not for the faint of heart (be careful if you find gruesome imagery squicky), but if you can stand the shivers, this book’s phenomenal writing will give you chills of a totally different kind. This gorgeously written story reads like poetry—despite the demons and the violent deaths, Okiku finds beauty in spirits at peace and ordinary human bravery. Okiku sees everything, and her voice is as wise as her years would make her and as passionate as the teen she once was. Whether alive or dead, these characters are more real than some people I’ve met, and I’ve never heard a voice like Okiku’s before in all my years of reading fiction. A must-read for horror fans!

Description

I am where dead children go.

Okiku is a lonely soul. She has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the spirits of the murdered-dead. Once a victim herself, she now takes the lives of killers with the vengeance they're due. But releasing innocent ghosts from their ethereal tethers does not bring Okiku peace. Still she drifts on.

Such is her existence, until she meets Tark. Evil writhes beneath the moody teen's skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. While his neighbors fear him, Okiku knows the boy is not a monster. Tark needs to be freed from the malevolence that clings to him. There's just one problem: if the demon dies, so does its host.